Harrowed Halls

Mike got a new game called Bushido: Der Weg des Kriegers (the subtitle means “Way of the Warrior”). As you might be able to guess, it’s a German game about medieval Japan. Fortunately we have rules written in English. The text from the box says, “…players take on the roles of Daimyo, feudal lords in medieval Japan, and compete to become the next Shogun of the empire, who gets appointed by the emperor. And this truly has to be an honorable man.” Ah yes, an honorable man. If the shogun is suppose to be so honorable, why is this game all about intrigue, back-stabbing, spying, and using others to attain your goals? This done all the while you are smiling and bowing to your fellow lords? If you like games with lots of player interaction, then you’ll like this one.

The game has an interesting dynamic in that you, as the Daimyo gain honor by having others—the other players—fight your battles for you. Let me explain how this works. Each round, a new player becomes the reigning Daimyo for that round. He has three other roles that he assigns to the other players. The Samurai role will be his general and attack the province of his choice. The Bushi role is to defend against the attack. The Sensei role is the Daimyo’s advisor and can play effects that can help or hurt the Daimyo. There is one other role that isn’t used in a 4-player game and won’t be mentioned here. The game description does have it right that this game is all about honor. Everyone gains and loses honor through battles on the board.

This was a perfect game for our little group, which already has an underlying current of friendly mistrust and fragile alliances running through it. Ben once again made a strategic error in the placement of his troops at the beginning of the game. This caused him to struggle for most of the game as he was most often chosen as the Bushi. He was also the only Samurai to be called upon to commit Seppuku due to his disappointing failure as my Samurai. Mike and Owen, by far, were the best two players the entire game. Mike, whose nickname is the “Silver Tongued Devil” worked his magic and convinced everyone he was harmless…harmlessly gaining honor to become the Shogun. Owen took a more straight forward approach and won battle after battle, thus earning much honor.

Usually Ben is the king-maker (or in this case, Shogun-maker) of the game, but this time it was me. By making two, no three, no…two mistakes at the very end of the game. One, I allowed Mike to invite me to a Tea Ceremony that everyone else said (afterwards) I should decline. Mike got much Daimyo honor from this. Enough to put him one short battle away from becoming Shogun. Mike also chose me as his Samurai. If I win the battle, he wins the game. If I lose the battle, I lose. Either way it’s nothing but bad for me. Mike depended upon me doing something stupid and I did not disappoint him. I inadvertently won the battle, giving Mike the game. Owen, on the other hand, was very disappointed. He was also poised to become Shogun and my ineptness stole it from him. My ineptness also vaulted me in to third place, and in our little group, that’s a win just not to be last. (Ben was last.)

Chaos Steve